Something sweet and sour

I am in the mood for this...

Picture found here.

Or maybe this...

Picture found here.

 

This would work....

Picture found here.

 

I would settle for this.

Picture found here.

Yeah. I need me some caramel apples!

 

Happy Halloween!!!

 

I wanna be like him...

Who doesn't remember waking up early to watch

Saturday morning cartoons?

 

I don't think anyone does that anymore. 

 

When I was young, if you slept in, you missed the best cartoons:

The Smurfs, Scooby Doo, Animaniacs, Looney Tunes, etc. 

Thanks to DVR, Netflix, etc, there is no need to wake up early

or to even look forward to Saturday mornings...

other that sleeping in.

 

Well, one of my favorite cartoon characters was Wile E. Coyote.

 

I love that guy.

 I loved him then.

 I love him now.

 

What a great role model.

 

No task was impossible.

He was creative. He thought outside the box.

When he failed, he got back up.

Every. Single. Time. 

No setback, no embarrassment,

no big boulder landing on his head after falling hundreds of feet

was going to stop him from catching that ruthless roadrunner.

 

In my mind,

even though he never caught that dang bird, 

he was always the winner!

Favorite superhero....

Who is my favorite superhero and why?

 

Besides the fact that he is a gentleman,

and is always able to see others' motives,

and honestly wants to do the right thing

because it is the right thing to do...

 

Besides all that....

...just take a look.

 

Am I right or am I right?

Erika's Black Bean and Salsa Crockpot Chicken

Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts
32 oz. salsa
1 can corn, drained
1 can black beans, drained

flour tortillas
cheese
 Any other topping you might like.

1. Place the first 4 ingredients in the crockpot on low
2. Cook for 6-8 hours
3. 30-40 minutes prior to eating remove the chicken, shred the chicken, and return to crockpot
4. To serve use chicken mixture as filling inside the tortillas- top with toppings
**This makes a lot. I use frozen corn- I like it better and sometimes I don't have blcak beans or enough salsa so I just use what I got and it is yummy and EASY!!!!!!!!

The state of things

My throat, it scratches,
My nose, it runs.
My head's about to explode.

My body aches,
My ears are plugged
My brain is cloudy and slowed.

My muscles are weak,
My feet, they drag
My bed, it calls to me.

Alright, I give up.
I admit it, I'm sick.
Good night, I'm going to sleep.

The Memory Keeper's Daughter

"The Memory Keeper's Daughter" by Kim Edwards

Goodreads' Summary
On a winter night in 1964, Dr. David Henry is forced by a blizzard to deliver his own twins. His son, born first, is perfectly healthy. Yet when his daughter is born, he sees immediately that she has Down's Syndrome. Rationalizing it as a need to protect Norah, his wife, he makes a split-second decision that will alter all of their lives forever. He asks his nurse to take the baby away to an institution and never to reveal the secret. But Caroline, the nurse, cannot leave the infant. Instead, she disappears into another city to raise the child herself. So begins this story that unfolds over a quarter of a century - in which these two families, ignorant of each other, are yet bound by the fateful decision made that long-ago winter night. Norah Henry, who knows only that her daughter died at birth, remains inconsolable; her grief weighs heavily on their marriage. And Paul, their son, raises himself as best he can, in a house grown cold with mourning. Meanwhile, Phoebe, the lost daughter, grows from a sunny child to a vibrant young woman whose mother loves her as fiercely as if she were her own.

My review:
I really liked this book. It's about decisions. Some decisions stay with us for the rest of our lives. David kept his decision a secret. Caroline took his decision, made her own and raised his daughter, despite the challenges that faced her. Both were changed by their choices. Kim does a great job of letting us watch their lives unfold. There isn't a lot of language, which I appreciated. It is captivating and intriguing. If you are looking for a good read, look no farther.

It isn't Halloween without whoopie...pies!

Makes 12-14

Ingredients3 c AP Flour
1 T cinnamon
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1 t ground ginger
½ t salt
½ t ground nutmeg
¼ t ground cloves
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup Splenda (use could white sugar if you like)
1 cup vegetable oil
1 - 15 oz. can of pumpkin
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Beat together brown sugar, Splenda, oil and pumpkin. Add eggs one at time, mixing well after each addition, followed by the vanilla. In a separate bowl, shift together the dry ingredients. Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined.
3. Using a pastry bag with a round tip, or a big zip top plastic bag with one corner snipped, squeeze out concentric circles of batter, starting from the middle and working outward until the circles are about 2 inches in diameter.
4. Bake for 11 minutes and cool on a rack.

Cream Cheese Filling
1 - 8 oz. package of cream cheese, softened
1 stick of unsalted butter, room temperature
1 - 16 oz. package of powdered sugar
about a capful of vanilla extract
a pinch of cinnamon (to taste)

Beat together cream cheese and butter. Add powdered sugar, vanilla and cinnamon. Frost flat side of half the pies and top with another piece.

Enjoy right away or chill overnight.